


Together

by AttackonHeroesResurgence



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Attack on Heroes, Attack on Heroes, BERTOLT DESERVES ALL THE GREAT THINGS IN LIFE, Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 08:19:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7707691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AttackonHeroesResurgence/pseuds/AttackonHeroesResurgence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bertholdt wakes up from a nightmare and is comforted by his friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Together

Bertholdt woke suddenly, body jerking as his eyes shot open. Light was barely filtering into his room and everything was doused in watery grey light. He was in his dorm room, safe and sound. His nightmare was over, although his heart was still racing a mile a minute. It wasn’t an entirely new feeling; the antidepressants he’d just started caused weird dreams and nightmares all the time, but waking up from one was unusual, not to mention jarring. He just hoped he could forget the dream and go back to sleep, but as he tried to lie back down the horrific images kept flashing in his mind.  _ So much for getting a full night’s sleep. _

In the dim room Bertholdt could see the remnants of last night’s slumber party. Snack bags were piled against the wall, video games controllers pushed up to the TV, bits of popcorn littering the visible ground. They’d all dragged their mattresses into Bertholdt’s room and laid them down to create one big bed.

Annie was sleeping not too far from him, blankets pushed aside and her foot in Reiner’s face. Reiner seemed to be completely passed out, clutching a spare pillow and curled into a ball. Jesslee was sprawled out over two mattresses with her blankets tightly wrapped around her body. Her fingers were laced with Bertholdt’s, he realized as he surveyed the room. If he wasn’t scared of kicking her in the face again, he’d cuddle up to her like they used to as kids and try to go back to sleep. 

Bertholdt felt a light tapping on his shoulder and nearly screamed at the touch. Annie had woken up and was beside him.

“What are you doing up? Are you okay?” she whispered. He shrugged and didn’t meet her eyes. 

“Had a nightmare. It’s fine,” he replied quietly.

“Uh, no? That’s not fine?” Bertholdt started as Jesslee spoke up. “Having nightmares isn’t okay. You don’t get enough sleep as it is, you don’t bad dreams fucking up whatever sleep you can get.” 

“Really, I’m fine,” he insisted. After years of dealing with depression he was used to lying to his friends about how he truly felt. It was tiring, he had to admit, but the last thing he wanted to do was bother them with his problems. 

“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s one thing. But if you’re trying to repress things, that’s not healthy,” Annie told him.

“You know if Annie’s saying not to bottle things up, it’s serious.” And now Reiner was awake too. Annie sent him a scathing look but didn’t respond. 

“I . . . ” Bertholdt paused. They were all concerned for him.  _ Genuine _ concern. Deep down he knew they cared, but to have them directly ask was a wake up call. He wasn’t comfortable talking about it, and maybe he never would be. But they cared and maybe it was time to stop acting like everything was fine. Or at least start taking baby steps towards that. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You sure?” Reiner asked. Bertholdt nodded. “Do you think you can go back to sleep?”

“No, not really,” he replied. Annie nodded slightly and grabbed her backpack.

“All right, let’s get dressed and go have breakfast,” she said.

“Wait, I don’t want you guys to miss sleep because of me -”

“I don’t wanna get all  _ High School Musical _ on you, but we’re all in this together. One of us has problems, we’re all here for each other,” Jesslee told him. “We don’t mind. Giving you support is what we’re here for, I mean, that’s basically the point of friends.” Clearly anything he’d say wouldn’t stop them now. They were going to sacrifice sleep for him. Although he felt a little guilty, Bertholdt flashed them a small smile. How had he gotten such amazing people to love him like this? 

“Then I guess we’d better get dressed,” he said. They weren’t going to cure him no matter how much they cared and loved him. But having their support and love would help him through this. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! If you liked what you read and want more of the Attack on Heroes Universe, check us out on our official Project Blog and YouTube!
> 
> [Our blog](http://attackonheroes-resurgence.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Our Youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/user/AttackonHeroes#_=_)


End file.
